Power-driven conveyer



Nov, 5, 0- J. w. sHEPERD sON ,550

POWER-DRIVEN CONVEYER Filed Jan. 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INK/EN TOR JOHN w SHEPERDS 0N 5,1 .1. w. SHEPERDSON ,220,550

POWER-DRIYEN CONVEYER Filed Jan. '13," 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR JOHN m SHEPER'D-SON i ATTORNE Patented Nov. 5, 1940 urrso STATES POWER-DRIVEN CONVEYER John W. Sheperclson, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Massl, a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 13, 1939, Serial No. 250,775

7 Claims.

This invention relates to power-driven conveyers, and more particularly to conveyors of this type having a series of rollers arranged to move elongated bars of material in a longitudinal direction, with provision for discharging the bars from the rollers in a lateral or broadside direction.

Conveyers of this general construction are often used to receive hot metal bars from a rolling mill and to discharge them laterally to a cooling bed. Frequently the cooling bed is made double,

with the conveyer or mill run-out at its center, the kick-off mechanism serving to discharge successive bars to opposite sides of the cooling bed. These hot metal bars have very little lateral strength or rigidity, and they can be very easily deflected from their proper course. Furthermore, they are often delivered at very high speed from the rolling mill. Because of these conditions, it is of the greatest importance to provide means which will guide the bars accurately and depend-- ably during their longitudinal travel and yet not interfere with their broadside movement at the proper time. Great difliculty has been encountered heretofore in developing a construction It is a further object of the invention to provide a comparatively simple, compact and inexpensive roller conveyer having guiding means to ensure the delivery of bars of stock longitudinally in a direct line, and kick-01f mechanism operable to discharge successive bars broadside to opposite sides of the conveyer.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings illustrating, one embodiment of the invention and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a powerdriven roller conveyer, the portionat the left end of the figure being shown in section on the line i--l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of one of the 5 conveyer rollers;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on' the line 55 of Fig. 2, showing the parts in position to receive a bar;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the 10 parts in position to discharge the bar laterally;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the parts in position to receive the next bar; and

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. '7, showing the parts in position to discharge the said next bar laterally.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a series of spaced power-driven conveyer rollers l9 arranged with their upper or stock-supporting sur- I faces in horizontal alignment. These rollers 20 serve to convey elongated bars of stock in a longitudinal direction as indicated by the'arrow in Fig. l, the axes of the rollers being transverse to the line of stock travel. The conveyer rollers may be rotated about their axes by any suitable 25.

means, but they are preferably constructed with self-contained electric motor drives. One wellknown construction of this type is shown in Fig. 4 and includes a stator ll having stationary windings l2 thereon which are surrounded by the rol- 301 ler Iii, the latter carrying on its inner surface the moving coils M of the motor. The roller is supported at its ends by means of bearings l5 carried by the stator l I, and the stator in turn is supported at its ends in a yoke I6. The electric current is supplied to the stator l l by means of suitable leads ll which enter the stator at one end thereof. A conveyer roller of this type is described in the prior patent to Morgan No. 1,743,044. 40*

In order to guide the stock laterally during its longitudinal travel over the rollers l0, guide troughs [9 are provided between the rollers. These troughs are formed with bottom surfaces 20 which are normally located slightly below the 4 6- ;shaft between the bearings 26.

ging may occur in the case of hot bars, particularly if the stock is relatively thin.

On each side of the line of conveyer rollers l0 there is provided a longitudinally extending receiving trough 23, these troughs forming a part of a double cooling bed, which may be of any suitable construction. Means is provided for discharging the bars laterally from the rollers l0 into the trough 23, and in the embodiment illustrated this lateral discharge or broadsiding of the bars is brought about by tilting the conveyer rollers to one side or the other. For this purpose each yoke I6 is carried on one end of a horizontal shaft 25 which extends parallel with the line of longitudinal travel of the stock, the axis of this shaft being in the same plane as the axis of the roller and at right angles thereto. Each shaft 25 is rotatably supported in a pair of bearings 26 on a bracket 21, the entire series of brackets being mounted on a pair of spaced parallel beams 29 which extend longitudinally of the conveyer. The beams 29 are carried by a series of transverse frame members 30. Each shaft 25 has secured thereto an arm 32 which extends down- 'wardly and carries at its lower end a roller 33.

The frame members are provided with bearings 35 in which is mounted a longitudinal control shaft 36 having arms 31 mounted thereon, these arms extending upwardly adjacent to the arms Each of the upwardly extending arms 31 is forked or otherwise constructed to provide aslot 38 which receives the roller 33 on the adjacent arm 32. i

It will now be apparent that by turning the 1 lower shaft 36 in one direction all the upper shafts 25 can be turned simultaneously in the other direction, thus tilting the conveyer rollers ID toward one side for the purpose of discharging the stock laterally. Such lateral discharge will however be prevented by the guide flanges 2| if they are allowed to remain in their normal positions. For this reason I provide means for withdrawing the guide flanges at one side of the stock, and I prefer to withdraw these flanges in a downward direction to allow the stock to pass above them during its broadside movement. In the preferred construction illustrated this withdrawal of the flanges is effected by tilting the guide troughs l9 laterally about horizontal axes coinciding with the axes of the shafts 25, the angle of tilt being greater than that imparted to the conveyer rollers l0. As shown in Fig. 2, each guide trough I9 is carried by a supporting hub 40' therebeneath, which is free to oscillate on the adjacent An arm 4| extends downwardly from each hub 40, and each arm 4| carries at its lower end a roller 42 which is positioned within the slot 38 in the adjacent arm 31. The arms 4| are somewhat shorter than the arms 32, so that for a given angular movement of the lower shaft 36 the guide troughs l9 will be tilted through a greater angle than the conveyer rollers l0. Consequently, by imparting a sufficient angular movement to the lower shaft 36, the guide flanges 2| on one side can be brought below the upper surfaces of the conveyer rollers I0, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8 Various forms of mechanism may be provided to actuate the shaft 36. One suitable construction is shown in Fig. 3, and comprises an arm 44 extending upwardly from the shaft 36 and connected by a rod 45 to a crank 46. This crank is mounted on the shaft of a worm gear 48 which is driven by a Worm 49 and an electric motor 50. This motor will be stopped when the various parts are in position to receive an oncoming bar of stock, and it will be started when the bar is to be discharged laterally from the conveyer rollers. If desired, the conveyer rollers may be positioned with their axes exactly horizontal while receiving the oncoming bar, but I prefer to tilt them at a slight angle downward (as shown in Figs. 5 and 7) toward the side on which the bar is eventually to be discharged. This will cause the bar to travel close to the guide flange 2| near the lower end of the convey-erroller, and less lateral movement of the bar will be required during its discharge.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. Assuming that the motor 50 is stopped, with the various parts positioned as shown in Fig. 5, a bar will be delivered longitudinally to the conveyer and carried along by the rotation of the rollers I0. During its longitudinal travel the bar will be guided laterally by the flanges 2|, and it will ordinarily travel close to the lower of these flanges because of the slight lateral inclination of the conveyer rollers. When lateral discharge of the bar is desired, the motor 50 will be started, either manually or by suitable automatic control, thus rotating the crank 46 and causing the shaft 36 to turn in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5. When the parts reach the positions shown in Fig. 6, with the lower flange 2| below the tops of the conveyer rollers, the bar will slide off laterally into the receiving trough 23 adjacent the lower ends of the rollers. The continued rotation of the crank 46 will turn the shaft 36 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, and move the various parts to the positions shown in Fig. '7, whereupon the motor 50 will be stopped either manually or automatically. The next bar of stock will then be delivered to the conveyer, and at the proper time the motor 50 will again be started, bringing the parts to the positions shown in Fig. '8 and causing the lateral discharge of the bar into the other receiving trough 23. Continued operation of the motor 50 will restore the parts to the positions shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the motor will again be stopped and the cycle repeated. Thus the successive oncoming bars will be discharged alternately first to one side and then to the other side, any suitable mechanism being provided to remove the bars laterally from the receiving troughs 23.

It will be now apparent that the invention provides a comparatively simple and rugged apparatus which will advance the bars of stock longitudinally while guiding them laterally in a positive manner, and yet these bars can be quickly discharged to either side of the conveyer when desired. It will be obvious that the invention can be readily adapted for use with single cooling beds or other apparatus requiring the broadsiding of successive bars to the same side of the conveyer rollers. Under such circumstances it will merely be necessary to oscillate the shaft 36 between the two positions shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 respectively.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, troughs located between the rollers and provided with flanges which normally extend upwardly above the rollers to guide the bar laterally, means to tilt therollers toward one side of the conveyer to efiect lateral discharge of the bar, and means to tilt the troughs toward the same side through a suflicient angle to allow such lateral discharge of the bar to take lace over the tops of the flanges on said side.

2. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, troughs located between the rollers and provided with flanges which normally extend upwardly above the rollers to guide the bar laterally, means to tilt the rollers toward one side of the conveyer about an axis which extends parallel with the direction of longitudinal travel of the bar and thereby bring about lateral discharge of the bar, and means. to tilt the troughs about the same axis toward the same side but through a sufficiently greater angle than the rollers to allow the bar to be discharged laterally over the tops of the flanges on said side.

3. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, a separate shaft forming a support for each roller, bearings supporting the shafts in a line which extends parallel with the direction of longitudinal travel of the bar, troughs located between the rollers and provided with flanges which normally extend upwardly above the rollers to guide the bar laterally, each trough having a hub therebeneath which is pivotally supported on the adjacent shaft, means to turnall the shafts simultaneously through a predetermined angle and thereby tilt the rollers toward one side of the conveyor and bring about lateral discharge of the bar, and means to turn all the troughs simultaneously with the shafts about the shafts in the same direction but through a suficiently greater angle to allow the bar to be discharged laterally over the top of the flanges on said side.

4. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, a separate shaft forming a support for each roller, bearings supporting the shafts in a line which extends parallel with the direction of longitudinal travel of the bar, troughs located between the rollers and provided with flanges which normally extend upwardly above the rollers to guide the bar laterally, each trough having a hub therebeneath which is p-ivotally supported on the adjacent shaft, an arm extending downwardly from each shaft, an arm extending downwardly from each hub, the last-mentioned arms being shorter than the first-mentioned arms, a control shaft beneath and parallel with the roller-supporting shafts, arms extending upwardly from the control shaft into operative engagement with both sets of downwardly-extending arms, and means to rock the control shaft through a sufficient angle to tilt the rollers toward one side of the conveyer and at the same time tilt the troughs toward the same side and lower the flanges on said side below the tops of the rollers, thereby efiecting a lateral discharge of the bar from the rollers.

5. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, means supporting the rollers and so constructed that they may be tilted toward one side of the conveyer to effect lateral discharge of the bar, means located between the rollers and normally arranged to guide the bar laterally, and mechanism to tilt the rollers toward the said side of the conveyer and to withdraw the guide means at the corresponding side a suflicient distance to allow lateral discharge of the bar to take place without interference with the guide means.

6. A power-driven conveyer comprising a se-. ries of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, means supporting the rolls and so constructed that they may be tilted toward one side of the conveyer to effect lateral discharge of the bar, laterally spaced flanges located between adjacent rollers and normally extending upwardly above the upper surfaces of the rollers to guide the bar laterally during its longitudinal movement, and mechanism to tilt the rollers toward the said side of the conveyer and to withdraw the flanges at the corresponding side downwardly a sufficient distance to allow lateral discharge of the bar to take place over the tops of the withdrawn flanges.

7. A power-driven conveyer comprising a series of spaced power-actuated rollers arranged to support an elongated bar of material and move it longitudinally, troughs located between the rollers and provided with flanges which normally extend upwardly above the rollers to guide the bar laterally, means to tilt the rollers toward one side of the conveyer to effect lateral discharge of the bar, and meansto tilt the troughs toward the same side of the conveyer through an angle greater than that through which the rollers are tilted and sufficient to allow the bar to be discharged laterally over the tops of the flanges on said side.

JOHN W. SI-IEPERDSON. 

